Hi I am looking at buying a machine for a limestone quarry. All the local quarries use D9s but they seem to struggle a bit when ripping and cutting. We also have a 700 Volvo excavator that is loading trucks and have to be able to cut enough material to ensure it is constantly fed. Does it make more sense to size up on a dozer with the thinking that bigger machine and more horse power will allow us to dig more material, but at the same time put less stress on the machine? I know operator has a lot to do with it, and can stress the machine by pushing more. Also where can I get info on material amount vs fuel burn for each of these machines?
Your questions about fuel usage and material amount are published in the Caterpillar Performance Handbook. https://wheelercat.com/company/resources/cat-performance-handbook/
I bought the last dozer used for ripping off a limestone quarry a year ago . They have moved from using dozers to rip to diggers with sonic ripper . Still use dozers for cleaning up . The owner told me about large boulders they had put aside because they were too large to put in their crushers , all ripped and crushed without problem . Cheaper to run oil through pipes than run dozers through rock
I’d say if the D9s are struggling then at least go for the d10. I imagine you would spend more on maintaining a over worked, run hard smaller machine than a larger one that was working as intended.
Like in male appendages, I think size does matter. Plus, think of the bragging rights to tell everyone you have a D-11 carry dozer. Like those gold mining, reality shows in Canada.
Back in the day the selling dry for big dozers was "Why blast rock you can rip?" to which our reply was "Why rip rock you can blast?" It appears as though not much has changed............
It might help to know what model of D9 they are using. There is a big difference between a D9G/H machine and the latest model D9T with a number of other D9 models (e.g. D9L, N, R) in between.
Ripping is far less money than drilling and shooting and you don't have to worry about the neighbors and ATF sitting in your back pocket.
just ask the three stooges. Blasting is far more fun. The country went to **** when boys couldn’t play with cherry bombs and M80s. I think it’s why manhood has become pussified.
Blasting is a problem here now . The old guy selling me his dozer was pretty enthused about his sonic ripper . His mine manager not so much , one of the digger operators said it shook his digger a fair bit , 30 or 35 ton diggers where all the ripping dozers were 40 ton plus , costs may have been shaved just a bit much .
If you ever had to pack a trailer load of sacks of ANFO for 300 plus holes, you might think a bit differently.
Wait until they factor a complete front-end rebuild (pins, bushes, boring, etc - maybe a slew bearing too - ouch.!) of the excavator into the equation at a whole lot earlier hours than they were figuring............
Sounds like a bottom line operation from my reading of the posts. In my experience, operations like that don't make plans, they make goals that don't include plans on how to attain those goals. They are only looking at finding ways to reduce their costs at that point in time. In my experience, the only time you want to employ blasting is when you absolutely can't rip the material for whatever reason.
I prefere using ripper tractors for my operations.The tractors are used to rip and prepare the material on the bench before the shovels process it through the screens.The oversize is brought back and the dozers spread it back over the bench. This eliminates the crusher. In the past,accountancy experts have tried big excavators to do my job. They can get the stuff out no problem…….but it’s not much use to them until it’s been processed into a saleable product.Big lumps stuck on the side of hill are useless. As allready mentioned here,your excavator will definitely break down a lot more than you expected.It will not achieve your expectations in running costs,and you’ll certainly have warranty issues and disagreements with your supplier about who pays for boom damage and slewing ring damage.
As for fuel burn,this allways makes me smile……moving muck and extracting rock is a dirty buisness.You’re going to gulp down large quantities of the stuff. In my opinion,any savings in fuel consumption are at the cost of production. Simple.
That’s an excellent point you make. I’m into overkill myself.I have D8’s that can do the same work without problem,but they are worked hard enough.The D9’s do the job about 50% faster.Their extra weight makes a world of difference and I can make my tonnage in 2 days with the D9 rather than 3 or more with the D8. The purchase price is a problem though as the current price in the UK for a D8 is upwards of £450k. The D9 will set you back £700k,however,with the Cat brand,I’ve allways been able to get my money back out upon selling them when I’m finished.